All The Latest​From The Farm

As most of you probably know, we sell whole, pasture-raised chicken (more info) here on the farm and at the Hendersonville Farmer's Market. We've made the decision to only sell whole chickens because we believe utilizing the whole bird allows our customers to get the biggest bang for their buck.Of course when we tell this to potential new customers, we hear things like "how do I use a whole chicken", "there's only 2 of us", "we only eat white meat" or "how do you cut up a whole chicken". I must confess, all of these used to apply to us as well. However, now that we've learned how to maximize the whole bird, we love it and hopefully you will too!To help you get the most out of your next whole chicken, here are some helpful tips and recipes:

We prefer to roast our chicken whole, pretty much like you would a turkey. Pasture-raised chicken is very tender so we encourage you to roast or smoke it in order to best enjoy the great flavor. Cooking it in a crock pot is not a bad thing, but definitely not necessary for tenderness.

If you would prefer to cut up your chicken before cooking, here's a good video to help you do just that.

Once we've enjoyed our first meal of roasted chicken, Lynn will pull as much of the remaining meat off the bones as possible. We're then able to use this meat for a 2nd, or even 3rd, meal. Some of our favorite uses are chicken pot pie, chicken quesadillas, chicken soup or fresh chicken salad.

Finally, after pulling off the meat, Lynn takes the bones and boils them down to make some great chicken broth/stock. She then freezes the broth to use whenever she needs. If you've never made fresh chicken broth, you're missing out on one of the healthiest benefits of buying pasture-raised chicken. One of our customers just published a great recipe on her website and she has graciously allowed me to share it with you here. Thanks Gina!

What about you? How do you make use of a whole chicken? Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know.